Red Bean Paste
by Saiyuri-kun
Summary: Bolin teaches the general how to cook. Fluff and a teasing Iroh


The general stood at the bow of his ship staring out at the sea. He and his crew were currently docked at Republic City. A familiar voice from behind brought him out of his calm trance. Remaining still, he could hear the footfalls of Bolin.

Iroh had somehow, sort of befriended him during the war against the Equalists. The teen would always come around to talk to him even though Bolin would be the one pulling the conversation as the general wasn't a talkative person.

"Hey, General, sir!" Bolin boomed as he walked over and leaned against the railing of the boat.

"Hello," Iroh sternly returned.

The man readied himself for Bolin's unnecessary report about something stupid, though it was sometimes informative or amusing, but there was a very long silence which was definitely uncharacteristic. Iroh shifted his gaze that was still toward the ocean, to Bolin. The earth-bender seemed to be studying him and the general grew a bit flustered, but he didn't say anything.

When they started up a staring contest, Bolin finally spoke.

"Do you just stand like that all the time?...I mean it's totally cool if that's like your weird hobby or something- er, not weird…well, it kinda is…"

Iroh raised an eyebrow and looked back at the waters. It wasn't that the man found Bolin to be a nuisance; it was just the way the teen would choose to communicate was a little strange. He would always say something without a thought or a filter and then slowly reeled back in what he said with a great deal of apologies. The general didn't see how anyone could have a short conversation with this loudmouth…unless Bolin only acted this way in front him.

"Maybe you should get a new hobby." His truthful opinion. "I mean…" And the beginning of a retraction.

Iroh stopped him this time.

"What do you suggest?"

The general swore he saw Bolin's eyes fill with excitement for a second at the shear fact he actually got a response this time. And when Iroh thought the teen would hesitate with the answer to his question, Bolin stood up straight and started to walk back from where he had come.

"Follow me to find out," his cheery voice sounded.

The man thought it rude to 'ask of the boy's help' and then simply not listen to his perhaps well-thought out suggestion.

He turned himself around and followed Bolin down into the ship's galley. While farther down the narrow room were the cooks, the nearby area was clear of all personnel.

"Here," Bolin said, gesturing to the counter island which had an assortment of ingredients on its surface.

"Cooking," Iroh merely stated.

"Yup," Bolin grinned as he hopped up on one of the two stools that were placed next to one another around the island. The teen then proceeded to give the empty stool a few quick pats to indicate the general to sit down.

Iroh begrudgingly did as he was asked, knowing that later he would have one hell of a time washing something or another out of his pristine uniform. Trying to sit regally on the poorly made stool, he watched as Bolin picked up a recipe card and was reading it over.

"Ok, first we need three cups of flour," he looked up expectantly at the general.

Iroh was about to sigh, but did it inwardly. Hurting the poor kid's feelings wasn't a nice thing, so he took a large bowl on the counter, found the flour and went about measuring it into the basin. Then, Bolin continued to list off what the general had to do. All the required items were on the table and not a thing extra, making Iroh realize that Bolin had certainly preplanned this.

After several minutes of effortless mixing, with Bolin obviously gawking at his strength, the general ended up with two bowls. One was filled with dough and the other was a red bean paste mixture.

The earth-bender expertly demonstrated how to ball up the dough and put the bean paste inside. When Iroh attempted his first bun, Bolin laughed at it.

"What?" Iroh glared.

The teen instantaneously shrank back, "It…just looks…well, you've clearly never made them so…"

Iroh felt horrible for snapping and placed a gentle hand on Bolin's shoulder, "Apologies."

Bolin lit up for a minute, but then turned away with a worried look, "You're not having fun, are you?"

The general dropped his hand from the teen's arm and looked down at the flour on his uniform jacket. Before he had thought that would be angry for the mess, but now he couldn't. Bolin was just trying to find something they could enjoy together. It was plain to see that the young earth-bender was smitten with him and just wanted the feeling to be mutual.

Iroh picked back up his dough ball and offered, "Show me again."

Bolin blinked away his watery eyes and looked over with a small, shy smile.

"Like this," he explained while reaching over to guide the general's hands into using the correct motion he should be.

Through this innocent act of touch, Iroh felt like he popped a fuse as his face turned hot from the soft touches of Bolin's slightly smaller hands. They helped him form the correct shape of the bun as they also helped shaped something else which happened to be located between the general's legs.

He thankfully got a hold of himself before the teen looked back up at him with a smile that Iroh now deemed as quite lovely.

"All done," Bolin proclaimed, letting his hands move away from the man's.

The bun in his hands was indeed perfect and the general set it down next to the other one Bolin had made. Though he didn't have a moment to relax, as Bolin shoved another piece of dough into his hands. After rolling the dough a bit in his hands, he found himself faking incompetence because this way of making a bun was simply not as good as having the younger's hands on him and doing it.

Bolin had, of course, been watching him and he reached over to repeat what he had done before. This time Iroh moved his hands much more, trying to look as though he was learning, but instead he was attempting to touch Bolin some more.

As Bolin pressed at the dough to form a dip, the general placed is hand on top of the teen's in favor of underneath it. He snuck a glance at Bolin's face to see a blush staining his cheeks. Iroh was surprised at the reaction of not only the younger man before him, but his own reaction, too. Previously, all of his blood had rushed south as a normal bodily response to something pleasing, but currently it felt like the blood was rushing into his chest, into his heart, making it beat like crazy. Iroh was interiorly stunned.

Bolin distracted the general's thoughts as he cleared his throat and then reached over to spoon some bean paste into the dough. Once the bun was complete and placed down, Iroh had come to the conclusion that he now had a very large crush on this crazy-nonstop-talking-earth-bending boy.

"Now, try it again by yourself," Bolin said, sounding a bit like he was chastising the man.

Iroh resisted the urge to ask for help again and he most definitely resisted his need to grab Bolin, take him back to his quarters, and do dirty things to him.

They finished making the buns in relative silence except for Bolin paying the general compliments on how good one of his finished buns looked. Then, the buns were placed on a baking sheet and put into the oven.

When Iroh supposed he was relieved of his duty to Bolin for the next couple of minutes, he headed over to the sink to clean up. The teen was hot on his heels and wound up right next to him with some soap in hand. He wordlessly gave the soap bar over and hopped up onto the counter next to the sink. Cleaning up, Iroh watched out of the corner of his eye as Bolin sat there looking as though he had not a care in the world. He was swinging his feet leisurely and softly whistling to himself.

After Iroh dried his hands and patted out the flour on his clothes, he turned back to Bolin to see him smiling wistfully at him. When the teen was caught, he turned red as he struggled to make it look like it had not been what it apparently was: a loving gaze of sorts.

The general was not the smartest person in this world, but he knew what he had seen and he knew he had to act soon. He had heard in passing from the teen's brother that Bolin had been hurt before due to unrequited love. There was no way Iroh would want Bolin to think he was going to experience it again.

So, the man charged forward and placed himself directly in front of Bolin as the teen sat rigidly on the edge of the counter. Iroh chose to take it slow as he put his hand upon the other's. After he rubbed his thumb in slow circles, Bolin seemed to relax. As the moments pasted, Bolin grew more confident and openly gave Iroh that longing look again, which the man returned with equal passion.

Iroh started to think about kissing the teen, but Bolin had already taken things into his own hands and was leaning in. As he got closer, the last inches seemed to petrify him as his shoulders stiffened up. The general recognized that his delayed thinking might end up with Bolin pulling back, so without a second's more reservation he lunged forward and was about to kiss the younger man. But suddenly there was a loud ding and Bolin jerked back.

"The buns are done," he said in a wavering voice.

Iroh frowned as the teen slipped past him and took the tray out of the oven. The moment had been lost as Bolin now only had eyes for the cooling food. The general might have been jealous if it wasn't so funny to be cheated on by buns filled with bean paste.

As soon as they were cool enough, Bolin sat on his stool and munched on the finished bread. Iroh let a laugh pass his lips and Bolin practically dropped his food as he stared in wonder at the smiling man's face.

"What?" Bolin asked dumbfounded by the beautiful smile.

"I just realized you got me to slave away to make your lunch."

The teen blushed, "Oh! I didn't, that's not what I meant to do, General, sir…"

His voice faded away as Iroh walked toward him with a smirk on his face. He leaned over the younger man's frame. Despite Bolin's nervousness, he turned instinctually toward him and apparently prepared his lips for a kiss by licking them clean. Iroh slid on hand down Bolin's back until it rested upon the hip. Then, he went in for the kill- almost. He leaned in until the teen was just about to close his eyes and then he bent his head down to bite off a piece of the bun Bolin had been holding.

He took his time ripping off the piece and then chewed and swallowed slowly. Iroh finished the display with his own lip licking before startling the already tense boy with an open mouth kiss, delving his tongue into the other's mouth and tasting the sweetness of the red bean paste.


End file.
